Channel 4, including Channel 4+1, had a 15% share of the peaktime audience between 6pm and 10.30pm, more than double BBC2's 6.7% and not far off ITV1's 18.6%. ITV1's new Anna Maxwell Martin drama, The Bletchley Circle, began with 4.5 million viewers, a 19.5% share, between 9pm and 10pm.

The Bletchley Circle beat BBC1 drama Good Cop, which was watched by 3.3 million viewers, a 14.5% share, also between 9pm and 10pm. Both dramas lost out to Channel 4's Paralympics coverage, which averaged 5.15 million between 9pm and 10pm.

New BBC2 series Wartime Farm, an eight-part documentary in which a farm is run in the style it would have been during the second world war, began with 2.5 million viewers (11%) between 8pm and 9pm, including 84,000 on BBC HD.

Sky Atlantic's new landmark documentary series, The British, charting the history of the British Isles from the Roman era to the present day, launched with 66,000 viewers between 9pm and 10pm, a 0.3% share of the audience. This was twice the slot average over the last three months.

All ratings are Barb overnight figures, including live, +1 (except for BBC and some other channels including Sky1) and same day timeshifted (recorded) viewing, but excluding on demand, or other – unless otherwise stated. Figures for BBC1, ITV1, Channel 4 and Channel 5 generally include ratings for their HD simulcast services, unless otherwise stated

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